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6.03.2016

"The writing style is strong... The ideas are
interesting and the writing good," wrote Betsy Mitchell, who went on to
become Editor-in-Chief at Del Rey. "The fantasy world you have created is
truly wonderful and rich. Your characters seem real and full of life," wrote
Sheila Gilbert, who is a co-owner of DAW Books. Both were written in reply
letters after the editors requested the full manuscript for Keeper Martin’s
Tale, my debut novel of epic fantasy. This was the 1990s and these heady statements,
even though they ultimately ended in rejection letters, were the fuel that
drove my writing.

To say that Keeper Martin’s Tale made the rounds in the
1990s is an understatement. My queries went out month after month, year after
year, and usually one submission at a time while I waited and waited and waited
for a response. Rarely, like a white whale half seen in the distance, but
frequently enough to keep me motivated, my queries were answered with requests
to see the full manuscript as I mentioned.

Over a period of years and with a variety of manuscripts,
including fantasy, sci-fi and more, I received exciting responses from Diana
Gill, Beth Meacham, Jim Minz, Toni Weisskopf, Betsy Wollheim, Terri Windling
and others. One requested full manuscript submission even made it all the way
to Tom Doherty, founder of Tor Books.

These types of requests and responses often came with
letters that had handwritten notes or notations signed by the editors themselves
where they’d say wonderful things. One executive editor said "It's a
creative, provoking, and above all, thoughtful story," before going on to
talk about how hard it was to launch a new book or series by a new writer.

How hard it was to publish an unknown was a frequent mantra.
The book is very good but we want more, another. Some suggested I try breaking
out with short stories, a collection or nonfiction first, and then once
published try to publish fiction. Undaunted, I framed and pinned up some of the
best responses and rejection letters as I went and used them as inspiration to
keep writing. Other writers I knew weren’t even getting past the query letter.
Meanwhile, I was getting regular requests for full manuscripts.

One editor finally told me quite matter-of-factly that the
story I created wasn’t right for the publisher’s line of books. Epic quests
like Terry Brook’s Shannara were what publishers were publishing and readers
were buying. The publisher didn’t quite know what to do with the type of story
I had written.

Keeper Martin’s Tale and the other Ruin Mist books were, at
their heart, a story of intrigue between two powerful families: The House of
Alder and the House of Tyr’anth. Epic quests were a part of the story, but they
weren’t the story.

Versions of the books that got the best response were the
ones where I submitted the story of Adrina, Vilmos and Seth as separate
chapters. Chapter 1 began Adrina’s story. Chapter 2, Vilmos’. Chapter 3,
Seth’s. Chapter 4 continued Adrina’s story, Chapter 5 Vilmos’ and so on. But
even though the approach attracted, I was told repeatedly in the end that the approach
would never sell. No one would buy a book where the story switched to a
different character every chapter, especially when later in the books there
were so many different characters. Any reader of current fantasy fiction knows
how wrong they were about that.

Wrong or not, their words directed my efforts and my
writing. My first big break came because of the frequent insistence that I try
breaking in with nonfiction or other types of writing, that once I was
published and a known quantity I would have an easier time selling my lengthy
fantasy epic and other works of fiction.

The break came when I sold an editor at Macmillan on a
proposal for a technical how-to book. At the time, I was one of a select few
with a strong background in writing and substantial technical expertise in this
new experiment called the World Wide Web. Originally, I was supposed to just be
a contributor to a book in progress, but the acquisition editor liked my
approach, ideas and writing so much that eventually my approach was adopted
instead and I took ownership and wrote over 800 pages of the 1000-page work.

The book became a top-seller for the publisher and put me on
the bestseller list. I was immediately asked by Macmillan to write another
book. That second book became a blockbuster bestseller and my career as a writer
was established in grand style. My biggest moment back then was when I walked
into a Borders and saw two floor-to-chest-high stacks of the book. Now, this
was also a 1000-page book, but it was still a sight to behold. That book and the
ones that followed sold like hotcakes at $49.99 - $79.99 each, and that was
the 1990s.

Twenty years later, I am now the author of nearly 200
full-length works of fiction and nonfiction. My books have been published and/or
distributed by nearly every major publisher. The big ones at least, including
O’Reilly Media, Simon & Schuster, McGraw Hill, Pearson Education,
Microsoft, and Random House.

Not bad for a guy who spent all those years with his face
pressed against the glass, trying to break in.

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Stay in touch with Robert Stanek by connecting on facebook
at https://www.facebook.com/robertstanekauthor or on twitter at
http://twitter.com/robertstanek.

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Robert Stanek has donated his time for more than 8 years. Beginning 2015, he can no longer do this. If you appreciate GoIndie, ReadIndies, FreeToday, and the other indie services we provide, help us keep going by making a donation today.